Hacking the stress system: the stress response as an adaptive trait that can work for or against
you
VIII - Lifestyle and stress I: Nutrition & Sleep

Nutrition



On the chaos that is Nutrition Science
´Everyone has their favourite diet and tests it against the standard American diet (MacDonald’s,
Burger king and worse).
´Very few randomised trails
´Extremely complicated to get people to follow a diet
´Animal studies usually do not translate well
´Mostly self-report data (highly unreliable)
´
´Mostly aimed at the treatment of disease rather than optimum function
´Heart disease, obesity, diabetes
´With the exception of sport’s science, longevity research
´
´

What do we actually know about prehistoric diet?
´Atkins, paleo, raw, vegan, carnivore, keto … ????
´
´We actually know surprisingly little
´Generalist (all types of food stuffs)
´An aim at digestibility
´
´But!!!! This diet was consumed in a highly physically active context!
´Nutrition is partially about what else we are willing to do
´

Key nutrients
´Macronutrients
´
´Carbohydrates (4cal/gram)
´Protein (4cal/gram)*
´Fat (9cal/gram)*
´
´Micronutrients
´
´Vitamins
´Minerals
´

The digestive system has specific sensors for different nutrients
´Sugars
´We like sweet things even if you numb taste buds
´Stimulates endorphin secretion
´Amino acids (building blocks of protein)
´We will eat until we have enough, not until we are full
´L-tyrocine (dopamine precursor)
´Chicken, turkey, fish, milk, yoghurt and almonds
´Fats (lipids)

The system simplified
´What you do not use, you store. But, not all macronutrients are stored the same way.
´Insulin
´Fat metabolism
´
´Stress releases stored energy
´Cortisol
´
´Stress for no real reason
´You dump a lot of energy on the system, remove it, dump it back in, remove it, etc.
´

Fasting
´Autophagy
´ketosis
´
´Longevity
´
´Regulation of insulin levels
´
´Neurogenesis
´
´
Mattson, M. P., Longo, V. D., & Harvie, M. (2017). Impact of intermittent fasting on health and
disease processes. Ageing Research Reviews, 39, 46–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2016.10.005
Longo, V. D., Mitteldorf, J., & Skulachev, V. P. (2005). Opinion: Programmed and altruistic ageing.
Nature Reviews Genetics, 6(11), 866–872. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1706

Sugar & insulin resistance
a curse or an adaptive trait gone wrong
´Diabetes type 2
´Fatty liver disease
´Obesity
´Cognitive downregulation
´
´
Lustig, R. H. (2014). Fat Chance: The Hidden Truth About Sugar, Obesity and Disease. London: Fourth
Estate Ltd.

Could insulin resistance be an adaptive trait?
´Many animals do not only start eating much more in preparation for winter but also change diet.
´Fructose trigger
´Higher consumption
´Insulin resistance
´Fat production
´Cognitive downregulation
´A response to prolonged periods of food shortage aimed at securing core functions
´
Johnson, R. (2022). Nature Wants Us to Be Fat_ The Surprising Science Behind Why We Gain Weight and
How We Can Prevent–and Reverse–It-BenBella Books (2021). Dallas: Ben Bella Books, inc.

Sleep



When was the last time you were delusional?



On the importance of sleep
´Nature has not provided us with a means to store sleep. The sleep we do not get is lost.
´
´Immune system
´Sex hormones
´Cognitive function
´
Almondes, K. M. de, Marín Agudelo, H. A., & Jiménez-Correa, U. (2021). Impact of Sleep Deprivation
on Emotional Regulation and the Immune System of Healthcare Workers as a Risk Factor for COVID 19:
Practical Recommendations From a Task Force of the Latin American Association of Sleep Psychology.
Frontiers in Psychology, 12(May), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.564227
Garbarino, S., Lanteri, P., Bragazzi, N. L., Magnavita, N., & Scoditti, E. (2021). Role of sleep
deprivation in immune-related disease risk and outcomes. Communications Biology, 4(1).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02825-4
Lateef, O. M., & Akintubosun, M. O. (2020). Sleep and reproductive health. Journal of Circadian
Rhythms, 18(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.5334/jcr.190
Su, L., Zhang, S. zheng, Zhu, J., Wu, J., & Jiao, Y. zheng. (2021). Effect of partial and total
sleep deprivation on serum testosterone in healthy males: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Sleep Medicine, 88, 267–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2021.10.031
Csipo, T., Lipecz, A., Owens, C., Mukli, P., Perry, J. W., Tarantini, S., … Yabluchanskiy, A.
(2021). Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive performance, alters task-associated cerebral blood flow
and decreases cortical neurovascular coupling-related hemodynamic responses. Scientific Reports,
11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00188-8

Stages of sleep: and their importance
´Deep sleep
´Delta waves / slow waves
´Memory consolidation
´
´
´Rapid Eye Movement sleep
´Dream state
´Memory contextualisation

Why sleep is so important
´Acute extreme sleep deprivation can
´Be fatal
´Lead to exacerbation of mental issues
´Will lead to psychotic symptoms while sleep deprived
´
´Chronic sleep deprivation
´Testosterone (a few nights of 4-5 hours – drop to levels of someone 10 years older)
´Blood sugar dysregulation
´Immune system failure
´Effect on gene-expression
´1 night of 4 hours – a 70 % drop in natural killer cells
´Alzheimer's
´
Walker, M. (2017). Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. Retrieved from
https://www.ptonline.com/articles/how-to-get-better-mfi-results